Memory Exam Questions

Question 1

Research has suggested that the encoding and capacity of short-term memory are different from the encoding and capacity of long-term memory.

Explain what is meant by coding. ( 2 marks)

Answer 1

Coding is the way in which information is stored/put into / processed into memory, eg acoustic, visual, semantic.

1. mark for what it is
2. marks for an example, how it’s coded or elaboration

Question 2

According to the multi-store model of memory, there are several ways in which short-term memory and long-term memory differ.

Explain how the findings of one or more studies demonstrate that short-term memory and long-term memory are different. ( 4 marks)

Answer 2

Badderly conducted a study to work out how information is coded in the short term memory store and the long term memory store.

He found that the short term memory store is acoustic because participants as recall was worse with acoustically similar words. He also found that form the long term memory store was coded semantically because participants recall was worse for semantically similar words. The fact that the coding for both stories are different shows how STM and LTM are two different stores.

Would get marks for mentioning case studies, things like duration, capacity, primacy and recency effect.

Question 3

The multi-store model of memory proposes that there are separate short-term and long-term stores.

Explain two differences between short-term memory and long-term memory in this mode ( 4 marks)

Answer 3

For each difference:
1 mark for identifying the difference eg STM holds less than LTM or LTM lasts longer than STM, or the STM is coded differently to LTM

second mark for elaborating on the difference

Short term memory is coded acoustically/duration is 18-30 seconds/capacity is 7+/- 9 numbers
Long term memory is coded semantically/duration is a lifetime/capacity is unlimited

Question 4

Outline the difference between the capacity of short-term memory and the capacity of long-term memory.

(2 marks)

Answer 4

The difference is that the capacity of short term memory is less than LTM, (1 mark or vice versa) for short term memory the capacity is 7 plus or minus 2 items, but for long term memory, the capacity is unlimited. ( 2 marks for further elaboration)

Question 5

The multi-store model of memory has been criticised in many ways. The following example illustrates a possible criticism.

Some students read through their revision notes lots of times before an examination, but still, find it difficult to remember the information. However, the same students can remember the information in a celebrity magazine, even though they read it only once.

Explain why this can be used as a criticism of the multi-store model of memory. (4 marks)

Answer 5

1. The students transferred the information of the magazine by rehearsal from the STM to the LTM, however, this is too simplistic. However, this may not work for revision notes as it doesn’t enter the LTM through rehearsal which questions the validity of the working memory model, as it does not account for how some information does not enter the LTM. A better way of explaining how students remembered the magazine might be through elaborate rehearsal (developed by Craick and Watkins) as they may have linked the contents of the magazine to something meaningful.

Candidates are most likely to focus on rehearsal. Answers could refer to the fact that mere rehearsal is too simple a process to account for the transfer of information from STM to LTM. Candidates might also point out that the type of information is important in whether it is recalled or not. For example, 1 mark for identifying rehearsal as a transfer mechanism and up to 3 further marks for explaining that even though students rehearse the information it doesn’t transfer from STM to LTM as predicted by the model. However, information in the magazine is only presented once, but it does transfer to LTM, despite lack of rehearsal.